Telco B2B and AI Monetization

Telco B2B is thriving, driven in large part by AI: it’s powering savvy sales teams, securing digital experiences, and not least, creating new ways to make money.

Telco B2B: A rising triple threat

“Telco B2B is a triple threat: It’s where telcos are betting big to win big, and where tangible growth is starting to happen.”

Camille Mendler, Research Director, Telco B2B

In the next 18 months, over 80% of the world’s top 200 telcos will refocus their tech investment on B2B. It’s about time: B2B has been starved of resources to deliver on its huge potential. Enterprise and wholesale clients may be 40% of telco revenues today, but they drive 80% of growth pursuits, including multi-cloud interconnect, 5G slicing, sovereign AI, non-terrestrial networks (NTNs), edge compute and beyond. More than 70% of the world’s telcos grew their B2B revenues last year ranging from emerging market startups to centenarian incumbents. That is why telco B2B is a triple threat: if telcos squander this rare growth opportunity, they will have few options left.

This research is taken from:

Making waves: Next-generation wholesale

“Next-generation wholesale enables an AI-first global economy of real-time digital consumption spanning humans and intelligent machines.”

Cindy Whelan, Practice Leader, Telco B2B Strategies

Wholesale was once a strategic afterthought, but it is now a critical enabler. Next-generation wholesalers focus on three growth vectors: sovereignty, agentic AI and digital experience. Sovereign wholesale profits from regulated demand for local network and compute infrastructure, scaling up the need for high performance edge nodes, and scrutiny of physical network underlay.

AI is both a growth catalyst and tool: more backbone traffic is AI enhanced and generated by machines at speeds beyond human oversight. Agentic wholesale includes AI-powered platforms and services like network-as-a-service (NaaS) and network APIs designed for autonomous machine data flows. Not least, experiential wholesale exploits both human willingness (among consumers and businesses) to pay for superior digital experiences, reinventing neutral host and mobile virtual network operator (MVNO) concepts.

This research is taken from:

Telco B2B Strategies Intelligence Service

Big, critical and needy: Sovereign verticals (finally) go digital

“The critical communications market stands at the verge of transformational evolution.”

Ildefonso de la Cruz Morales, Senior Principal Analyst, Critical Communications

Critical sovereign verticals control foundational systems that, if compromised, could pose existential threats to a nation’s day-to-day operations and citizens’ welfare. These industries - public safety, military, transportation and utilities - are now undergoing a comprehensive digital transformation. Market opportunities extend far beyond broadband connectivity. They span services and solutions like AI automation, real-time analytics, and cloud native services to transform operations.

But beware: for these organizations, sovereignty is not a box to tick but a multi-tiered framework. New critical systems require operational, data, digital, and supply chain sovereignty. Becoming a trusted advisor to these stakeholders requires the ability to navigate complex requirements of fail-safe control, superb digital performance, and sovereign independence.

This research is taken from:

Critical Communications Broadband Intelligence Service